On This Page
Description
This classic biographical novel based upon the early life of the great Scottish poet shows the early forces that shaped Burns and his work - the poverty and strict morality, the liberating experience of education, and his delighted awakening to the beauty of the natural world, and later to the allure of 'the lassies'.Tags
Recommendations
Member Recommendations
thesmellofbooks A novel for lovers of the Scottish people, of people who live close to the bone, of history, of language, of storycraft, of the human spirit--this book is deeply satisfying on so many levels. Unlike "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" it takes place in a seaside village, but otherwise there is much in common between the two.
Member Reviews
I cannot find fault with this book. It took a bit of faith to get into, as it uses in much of the dialogue a Scots dialect, which I am not too familiar with, but before long I was able to figure out most of what was being said, look up a few words, and not worry about the rest.
It's a beautifully told story about the amazing hardship of the early years of Robert Burns and his family and the emergence of his creative and assertive personality. The characters are all believable, their story is engaging, the prose delicious. My interest never flagged.
"The Wind" is the first of a quintet. I hope I can find the rest. My copy is from 1947. As far as I can tell the modern release only includes the first two novels. (Black and White Publishing show more 2008)
http://www.blackandwhitepublishing.com/index.php/books/view/the_wind_that_shakes...
ISBN10: 1845022319
ISBN13: 9781845022310
List Price: £9.99
ONLINE PRICE: £6.99 show less
It's a beautifully told story about the amazing hardship of the early years of Robert Burns and his family and the emergence of his creative and assertive personality. The characters are all believable, their story is engaging, the prose delicious. My interest never flagged.
"The Wind" is the first of a quintet. I hope I can find the rest. My copy is from 1947. As far as I can tell the modern release only includes the first two novels. (Black and White Publishing show more 2008)
http://www.blackandwhitepublishing.com/index.php/books/view/the_wind_that_shakes...
ISBN10: 1845022319
ISBN13: 9781845022310
List Price: £9.99
ONLINE PRICE: £6.99 show less
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Published Reviews
ThingScore 100
KIRKUS REVIEW
The first of a trilogy on the life of Robert Burns, this is written out of a thorough familiarity with Burns' poetry and letters, with scholarship, and also with a feeling for eighteenth-century Scotland. This first part is concerned with Robin's early youth; his father's upright ways, but unlucky attempts to farm a land which was either bog or rock; his scanty schooling; and show more Robin's early poems in the Scotch language which came ""sweet to the tongue, dripping off like honey"", his love for the lasses. Fictional biography at its best, this recaptures much of the hardship- and the beauty- of his youth, with an authentic accent. But a market is questionable. show less
The first of a trilogy on the life of Robert Burns, this is written out of a thorough familiarity with Burns' poetry and letters, with scholarship, and also with a feeling for eighteenth-century Scotland. This first part is concerned with Robin's early youth; his father's upright ways, but unlucky attempts to farm a land which was either bog or rock; his scanty schooling; and show more Robin's early poems in the Scotch language which came ""sweet to the tongue, dripping off like honey"", his love for the lasses. Fictional biography at its best, this recaptures much of the hardship- and the beauty- of his youth, with an authentic accent. But a market is questionable. show less
added by thesmellofbooks
Author Information
10+ Works 170 Members
Series
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1946
- People/Characters
- Robert Burns
- Important places
- Alloway, South Ayrshire, Scotland, UK
- Dedication
- To wife and weans without whose heroic patience the book could not have been written
- First words
- The village of Alloway straggled back from the banks of the river Doon to where the ground was firmer and drier; and here William Burns decided to make his home.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"And get to bed, lass, and sleep. There's a new life waiting for us all against the dawning."
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 54
- Popularity
- 545,258
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.40)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 6
- ASINs
- 9
